Wow! It Could Be the Greatest Gathering of Minds in Comic-Book History! Hold on to Your Hats and Get Ready for the Bios of Your Life!

JEFF BRENZEL, from a tower high atop the Ivy League of America, forays forth to fan the flames of fanatical devotion among the awesome alumni of ancient Yale University. In addition to directing the Association of Yale Alumni in its quest for enlightenment and international social super-power, he uses his own mysterious prowess in practical reasoning to protect his pedagogic prodigies in the classroom from the pitfalls put in their paths by pompous pedants both past and present. A protégé of prominent ethicist Alasdair MacIntyre, after a Yale degree and a short, super-powered business career, Jeff holds a Ph.D. in moral philosophy from the University of Notre Dame.

 

C. STEPHEN EVANS is University Professor of Philosophy and Humanities at Baylor University and is the author of numerous books dealing with philosophy of religion in general and Kierkegaard in particular. He is the husband of Jan Evans, a professor of Spanish at Baylor, and the father of three grown children (Kelley, Lise, and Chaz) who have contributed greatly to his superhero education, one of the few notable gaps in his Yale Ph.D. program long ago. When not writing or teaching, he can usually be found either running or on the golf course (and sometimes even running on the golf course, pretending he’s a cross between Flash and Tiger Woods), or otherwise enjoying the wonderful outdoor vistas of Waco, Texas.

 

RICHARD HANLEY wanted desperately to grow up to be Magnus, Robot Fighter. Alas, the problem of identity stood in his way, and, in the guise of a mild-mannered professional philosopher at the University of Delaware, he instead devoted his life to the pursuit of tenure. He has written on time travel, fiction, science fiction, and ethics, is the author of The Metaphysics of Star Trek, and co-edited The Blackwell Guide to Philosophy of Language. But his real passion is examining metaphysical theories of identity. He is close to a resolution that will permit him—once he gets the flashing lights working—actually to become Magnus, Robot Fighter. So much for the easy part—“growing up” is proving more difficult.

 

REBECCA HOUSEL is, by day, a professor of writing and literature in upstate New York, and by night both a mutant superhero and researcher with the University of New South Wales. She has written for Redbook magazine and has published the High Seas series of five children’s novels. She has contributed to Monty Python and Philosophy (2006) and is currently working on a two-volume book project on women warriors. Rebecca’s cosmic powers enable her to combat the evils of having a teenager while helping upstate New York brain tumor patients through the Phoenix Fund at Gilda’s Club, a non-profit organization started by that philosophical warrior-princess to help patients survive and thrive. Rebecca also kicks super-villain butt.

 

KEVEN KINGHORN is a tutor in philosophy at Oxford University, where he took his doctorate and still refuses to give it back. Friends suspect that Kevin’s addiction to comic books has unduly influenced his understanding of the Oxford-Cambridge rivalry. He considers Cambridge University to be his sworn enemy and is convinced that it is the root of all the evil in the world. Kevin was recently banned from high table after repeatedly using meal-time to try to persuade his fellow Oxford dons to form a Justice League to do battle against the Cambridge cohort of super-villains. Unsurprisingly, his efforts only managed to draw strange looks. Kevin was last spotted “Hulking Out” after Oxford lost to Cambridge in the annual boat race last summer.

 

C. STEPHEN LAYMAN, often bitten by spiders, firmly believes that he has gained a host of special powers from these experiences, but since they are completely undetectable, he continues to serve as Professor of Philosophy at Seattle Pacific University. He is the author of the books The Shape of the Good and The Power of Logic, along with numerous academic articles in professional journals. After all these years, he is still reluctant to don spandex, although he is nonetheless completely committed to using all his powers for good. Interestingly, he once had a student named “Peter Parker.” We’re not making this up.

 

CRAIG LINDAHL-URBEN earned a B.A. in philosophy at Reed College, and somehow realized that a Ph.D. would be superfluous for living a wise and full life. Currently an independent scholar in residence at St. Olaf Collage, he has spent many years in the computer industry, both owning a computer software company, and as an executive for large computer companies. He was formerly Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of a weekly newspaper and, unlike his fictional colleague J. Jonah Jameson, he always hoped that Superman and Spider-Man would drop in. The best he ever got was Jimmy Olsen’s third cousin, twice removed.

 

JEPH LOEB continues to work as a writer-producer in movies and television (with such credits as Teen Wolf, Commando, Buffy: The Animated Series, and Smallville). He has written some of the most distinctive and important comic books in recent times, including Daredevil Yellow, Spider-Man Blue, Hulk Gray, Superman For All Seasons, Batman: The Long Halloween, Batman: Dark Victory, and Catwoman: When In Rome, just to mention several of the ground-breaking projects for which he has teamed up with artist Tim Sale, and Batman: Hush (in which he quotes Aristotle), done with artist Jim Lee. In 2003, Jeph was awarded an honorary Doctorate of the Arts from the prestigious St. Edward’s University in Austin, Texas for his work with making pop-culture icons accessible to children. Not bad for a Jewish kid from New York City who discovered comics at the age of eight and has only looked up in the sky ever since.

 

MATT MORRIS, boy wonder, discovered comic books and the amazing people who create them when he was thirteen. As an aspiring comic-book creator himself, he carried on a regular correspondence with some of the best writers and artists of the mainstream superhero comics, who sometimes asked him, as a middle-school student, if he was interested in a job. Throughout the years, he has benefited from their belief in his superhuman talents. And now, after an academic career that has taken him from the beach in Wilmington, North Carolina, to Harvard and UNC-Chapel Hill, he continues to love the superheroes and all they represent. Still in his early days as an extraordinarily talented filmmaker, he has been known to respond to the Bat-Signal and go wherever he is needed. He honestly can’t believe the total number of otherwise productive hours he has spent in hypothetical ruminations over which superheroes could beat which others in a fight. This book was his idea.

 

TOM MORRIS remembers an odd-looking truck pulling up beside his car in New Haven, Connecticut, years ago, carrying nuclear waste, right before he suddenly found himself with philosophical powers. This is actually true, although he’d be the last to say, “Post hoc ergo propter hoc,”⁹⁸ largely because hardly anybody would know what he was saying. He is now, by many estimates, the most active public philosopher on the planet, speaking to more people about the wisdom of the ages than any philosopher since Ralph Waldo Emerson. He regularly brings philosophical insight to hundreds of thousands of people in large meeting rooms and convention centers all over America, and after writing many academic tomes, has authored such popular books as Making Sense Of It All, True Success, If Aristotle Ran General Motors, Philosophy for Dummies, The Art of Achievement, and The Stoic Art of Living. Forthcoming soon will be Harry Potter and the Meaning of Life. This Yale Ph.D. can be reached any time at his virtual Fortress of Solitude through the nearly secret portal, www.MorrisInstitute.com.

 

DENNIS O’NEIL is an award-winning comics writer and editor. He has also been a journalist, critic, television writer, and novelist. His most recent book is the novelistic adaptation of the new film Batman Begins. Renowned for the way in which he introduced social themes into mainstream superhero comics, he also guided Batman from the realm of comedic television back into the role of dark, urban avenger. He has lectured at dozens of universities and, aside from participating in the naval blockade of Cuba, writing for a time under the pseudonym “Sergius O’Shaugnessy,” and introducing many revolutionary changes into superhero comics, including once stripping Wonder Woman of her powers and costume, he has led a relatively normal, quiet life.

 

CHRISTOPHER ROBICHAUD is a Ph.D. candidate in philosophy at M.I.T. He received his B.A. from John Carroll University and his M.A. in philosophy from Texas A&M University. When not thinking very hard about what’s really real or playing Koosh with his fellow philosophers, Chris wanders around M.I.T.’s Infinite Corridor, hoping beyond hope that he’s at just the right place at just the right time when an experiment goes terribly awry, transforming him from an ordinary philosopher into a superhero of transcendental proportions. If that doesn’t happen, he at least hopes to finish his dissertation with what little of his sanity remains intact.

 

CRAIG ROUSSEAU conceived and drew our original cover art. His super-hero comic-book credentials include Impulse, Batman Beyond, and issues of Batman: Gotham Adventures. He’s also known for his contributions to, among many comics, JLA Adventures 2, a Max Mercury story in Flash, a Captain Marvel narrative in Adventure Comics, the great art of the animated Return of the Joker, Ruule, as well as for his work used in Catwoman, Harley Quinn, and on the Spider-Man-Hulk Christmas Tie. Craig has drawn for Disney, covering such super-powered characters as Britney Spears and the Dixie Chicks. Sharing his surname with one of the great thinkers of the past, Craig is now celebrated for his exciting work in the not-quite-so-philosophical Harry Johnson series. Visit him any time at www.craigrousseau.com.

 

CHRIS RYALL was always told that no good could come from reading comic books into adulthood. However, since he managed to find a way to combine his passions with his livelihood, those voices, largely in his own head, have quieted down. By day, he works as Editor-in-Chief of comic-book publisher IDW Publishing, and under cover of night, he serves as Editor-in-Chief and writer for MoviePoopShoot.com, filmmaker Kevin Smith’s acclaimed pop-culture Web site. Chris, his extremely patient wife, and his cat Fletch live in San Diego, California, where costumed superheroes can often be seen walking (oddly enough) down the street.

 

AEON J. SKOBLE is associate professor of philosophy at Bridgewater State College, in Massachusetts. He is co-editor of Political Philosophy: Essential Selections (1999), The Simpsons and Philosophy (2001) and Woody Allen and Philosophy (2004) and the author of a forthcoming work in political philosophy. He writes on moral and political theory for both scholarly and popular publications, and has also contributed scintillating essays to recent books on Seinfeld, The Lord of the Rings, and baseball. You can tell by his name that he has to be an inter-galactic visitor. And, sure enough, he came to this planet to fight a never-ending battle for truth, justice, and the American Way.

 

J.D. SMITH provided the color for our front cover original art. Super-colorist Smith, one of the giants of computer coloring, is legendary in the comics cosmos for his work on the Top Cow titles Witchblade and Tomb Raider, Aspen’s Fathom, Marvel’s Ultimate Spider-Man, Deity, and Dark Angel, among many other astounding achievements. If Plato had just had acccess to Photoshop, he might have stopped writing and become an early version of J.D. Smith: in that alternate universe what was lost to philosophy would have been gained by art. You can see what he does so well at www.jdsmithcolor.com.

 

JAMES B. SOUTH is Chair of the Philosophy Department at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He edited Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Philosophy (2003) and is co-editor of the upcoming James Bond and Philosophy (to be published, and not stirred, by Open Court in 2005). He primarily works in late medieval and renaissance philosophy, with periodic forays into popular culture (where it’s never too late for a renaissance). James has yet to convince his wife that Black Canary in fishnets is just as formidable as Nightwing in kevlar. She has said, however, that she is open to discussing the possibility and efficacy of Nightwing in fishnets. Since cross-dressing for justice is not within the scope of his chapter, or current interests, he wisely dropped the subject.

 

CHARLES TALIAFERRO, Professor of Philosophy at St. Olaf College, is the author or editor of seven books, most recently Evidence and Faith: Philosophy and Religion since the Seventeenth Century (2005). With the assistance of his brave and faithful dog Tiepolo, Charles is engaged in a never-ending fight against hate and cruelty, not to mention overpriced dog toys. His current project, Love, Love, Love, and Other Essays is to be published by Cowley Press in 2006. Charles is such a captivating teacher that, if the real (that is, the comic-book) Peter Parker had ever taken his classes, he would likely have dropped the science like a hot potato and become a philosophy major instead, presumably to the great dismay of his beloved and practical Aunt May.

 

FELIX TALLON is writing under an assumed name, and is said to be a Ph.D. student at St. Andrews University in Scotland, where he is studying the interplay between theology and the arts. He is also reported to look exactly like a famous British actor who has starred in many major motion pictures, including several prominent romantic comedies. But we call him “Felix,” as he instructs. His essay on the movie Psycho will be appearing in the forthcoming book in this series, Hitchcock and Philosophy. In his spare time he rules the small, Balkan country of Latveria with an iron grip.

 

MICHAEL THAU spent many years as the classroom guru of aspiring philosophy students at UCLA, and now creates his unique existential temple of wisdom at, appropriately, Temple University. Talking to Mike about much of contemporary academic philosophy is a bit like talking to Batman about crime. As soon as some rooms open up at Arkham Asylum, he is prepared to show a few college professors the door. Holding a Ph.D. in philosophy from Princeton University, Mike is the author of Consciousness and Cognition (2002) as well as a number of ground-breaking and thoroughly scintillating essays on these and other suitably abstruse subjects.

 

SCOTT TIPTON received Mego Spider-Man and Batman action figures from his parents for Christmas in 1976 and, well, the rest is history. A graduate of the University of California, Santa Barbara, Scott is the Associate Editor of the entertainment and pop-culture Web site MoviePoopShoot.com, and writer of its most popular feature, the weekly comics history column, COMICS 101. Scott is also communications director and design consultant for Toynami, a manufacturer of action figures and collectibles based on a variety of popular animated series and films. A lifelong comic and toy collector and self-styled comic-book historian, he takes great pride in continuing to find new ways to profit from a wasted youth.

 

MARK WAID was born in 1962 in Hueytown, Alabama. He bought his first comic at age four and has never since entertained the notion of not buying comics. His writing credits include, among many others, X-Men , Flash, JLA, Captain America, the best-seller Kingdom Come, Fantastic Four, and Superman. In all his spare time, he helps keep the planet spinning on its axis. Though he can name only nine presidents, Waid possesses an encyclopedic knowledge of comic-book history and trivia and also serves as DC Comics’ unofficial historian. His pride in this accomplishment has dwindled in direct proportion to his age.

 

JERRY WALLS is a graduate of Houghton, Princeton, Yale, and Notre Dame. He finally realized that the point of graduating is getting a job, and now, since the days of his Ph.D., teaches philosophy at Asbury Theological Seminary, as well as at many other points around the globe. Jerry is the author of several distinguished books on Heaven, Hell, and points in between, and serves as Senior Fellow in the Morris Institute for Human Values, powerfully bringing philosophy into the lives of people throughout our culture. Unlike Captain Marvel, he doesn’t need to utter “SHAZAM!” in order to get his powers, and unlike Gomer Pyle, he doesn’t go around saying it anyway.